HOLGER JENSEN International Editor, Denver Rocky Mountain News Foreign
Affairs Columnist, Scripps Howard News Service
______________________________________________________________ A rigged
election in a country on its knees ______________________________________________________________

2002
3/9/02 By Holger Jensen News International Editor Zimbabwe begins
voting todayA in an election that almost everyone believes has been rigged
to keep President Robert Mugabe in power. The 78-year-old despot, who has
ruled the African nation for all 22 years of its independence from Britain,
wants yet another six-year term to last him through his 84th birthday — even
if it means becoming an international pariah. Rampant political
violence and new election laws have made it nearly impossible for the vote
to be free and fair, according to human rights groups and the few foreign
observers allowed into the country. More than 150 people have been killed,
thousands tortured and up to 100,000 black farmworkers have been rendered
homeless by government seizure of white-owned farms over the past two years.
Mugabe's supporters have attacked his opponents with the assistance of
police and army units, making much of Zimbabwe a “no-go” area for opposition
candidates. The Human Rights Forum, a consortium of Zimbabwean rights
groups, says security forces are behind 90 percent of the intimidation. It
has accused Mugabe's ZANU-PF party of setting up 22 militia bases around the
country to torture supporters of the opposition Movement for Democratic
Change and gather for attacks on MDC strongholds. The MDC's Morgan
Tsvangirai, Mugabe's main challenger, has been charged with treason for
allegedly plotting to have Mugabe assassinated. And the army's top brass has
openly warned that it will not accept a Tsvangirai victory. Walter
Kansteiner, the assistant secretary of state for African affairs, has
advised Congress that “the campaign of repression orchestrated by the
government of Zimbabwe has been too profound and too pervasive to allow for
an untainted election.” British Prime Minister Tony Blair calls it “an
outrage.” And the European Union says it “contradicts the international
standards for free and fair elections.” The United States and European
governments have sought to punish Mugabe and his cronies with travel bans
and threatened asset seizures, but there is very little else they can do
short of outright military intervention. Foreign aid was cut off long ago
and broader sanctions, such as a trade embargo, would only collapse the
economy and increase the suffering of Zimbabwe's 13 million people.
The country is already on its knees. Inflation is running at 117 percent.
The Zimbabwean dollar, officially pegged at 55 to the U.S. dollar, changes
hands at four times that rate on the black market. Unemployment is 60
percent and 75 percent of the population lives below the poverty line.
Drought and farm seizures have slashed the staple maize crop in half. The
World Food Program is now distributing emergency relief supplies in a
country that used to be self-sufficient in food. Refugees fleeing hunger and
political violence are braving crocodiles, barbed wire fences and South
African army patrols in a desperate bid to escape across the southern
border. Seemingly unfazed by this looming disaster, Mugabe says many of
these problems have been “manufactured” by Britain and Zimbabwe's tiny white
minority of 70,000. He accuses Tsvangirai and the MDC of being stooges of
the whites, intent on returning the colonial era. Tsvangirai, a former
union leader, responds with one simple question: “Why is a country that was
once the bread basket of Africa now a basket case?” Two recent polls, one
by the independent Financial Gazette newspaper and the other by a private
institute headed by one of Zimbabwe's leading political analysts, show that
Mugabe's popularity has plummeted and Tsvangirai would easily win a fair
election. But Mugabe's rubber-stamp parliament has rushed through
electoral amendments forbidding civic and religious organizations from
monitoring the poll. Military officers have been appointed to the election
commission and only civil servants — dependent on government jobs — will be
there to guard against irregularities. Zimbabwe's Supreme Court struck
down some of the amendments last week but Mugabe simply reinstated them by
presidential decree. Opposition spokesmen say that's an open invitation to
ballot stuffing. South Africa's Desmond Tutu, a Nobel Peace Prize winner
who once admired Mugabe, says he has “gone bonkers in a big way.”

JOHANNESBURG, 11 March (IRIN) - It
would be nothing short of a miracle for Morgan Tsvangirai to emerge victorious
over Robert Mugabe in Zimbabwe's seemingly flawed presidential
election.

This was the belief of Chris Maroleng, a researcher with the
African Security Analysis Programme of the Institute for Security Studies, as
the third day of voting drew to a close on Monday.

Allegations of
electoral irregularities have emerged and the opposition have approached the
courts to extend the polling into a fourth day.

AP reported that the
Zimbabwe Human Rights Forum (Zim Rights), claimed election observers and polling
agents had been assaulted in Bulawayo and in Centenary. It said a Commonwealth
observer group had to "rescue" the locals from ruling party militia.

The
rights group also said three polling agents representing the opposition Movement
for Democratic Change (MDC) were attacked by a group of ruling party militants
in Hurungwe.

Zim Rights claimed that "police attacked voters and fired
teargas at two Harare area polling stations, prompting voters to flee from one
of the stations.

With regard to allegations of poll rigging Zim
Rights said they received "reports of bogus polling stations set up and
helicopters flying ballot boxes in and out of Gokwe North area. Opposition
representatives were cleared from the area".

The organisation claimed 92
percent of voters at a polling station in Bulawayo south were turned away
despite being registered. The organisation listed a litany of similar
allegations of intimidation and poll-rigging.

In his paper Future Power
Plays in Zimbabwe, Maroleng states that: "The increasing number of reports of
political violence and serious violations of human rights ... particularly by
members and supporters of Mugabe's ZANU-PF, coupled with the introduction of
draconian laws by the government (prior to the election), had further tilted an
already uneven political playing field, to the distinct disadvantage of the
MDC.

"In these circumstances it appears that it would take nothing short
of a miracle to prevent Mugabe winning."

"The question then arises: what
would such a victory mean for the internal dynamics of the ZANU-PF, and the
central issue of an eventual presidential succession. This is a particularly
interesting point of conjecture when one considers the various factions jostling
for power and influence, sometimes split along ethno-linguistic and provincial
lines."

Maroleng said the current dominant faction within ZANU-PF, led by
Mugabe, had at its core a large following of the Zezuru ethno-linguistic group,
one of the principal Chishona-speaking groups.

"Most analysts agree that
should Mugabe win the election he would seek an exit strategy that would allow
him to retire reasonably soon without fear of prosecution and provide him with
protection from revenge by some of the enemies that he has made over the past
two decades," Maroleng said.

For such a strategy to work it would
require that Mugabe's successor be someone he can "trust and (who) has a
relatively constant history of loyalty to (Mugabe). The successor would also
have to have the capacity to provide the protection that Mugabe requires and
would have to be considered politically astute enough to remain in power long
after Mugabe has left the stage. Finally, this successor would preferably come
from the dominant Zezuru ethnic group, as ethno-linguistic considerations seem
to play an important part in Zimbabwean politics".

Maroleng said the
fight to be Mugabe's successor would likely be bloody.

"The ensuing
power plays that will inevitably occur within ZANU-PF as a result of the hotly
contested succession to the presidency will not be uneventful. Considering the
fact that ZANU-PF has a long and checkered history of resorting to violence as a
means of sorting out political problems, it seems reasonable to anticipate that
even after the elections, politically motivated acts of violence will continue
to be an essential component of the political landscape of Zimbabwe.

"Excessive factionalism in ZANU-PF could lead to the implosion of this
political party, which would create space for the MDC to take power itself.
However, this is all very much future music and one hopes against hope, that a
peaceful election and transitional period will be experienced in Zimbabwe,"
Maroleng said.

The capital Harare is filled with confusion and allegations of government
rigging as polling stations opened nearly five hours late while thousands of
people waited to vote.

There is no indication as to when the first results will be announced.

Officials from the opposition Movement for Democratic Change said President
Mugabe was trying to prevent people from voting in their urban stronghold as
part of a widespread plan to steal the most competitive election in Zimbabwe's
history.

The MDC successfully sought a High Court order forcing the government to
extend voting countrywide for a third day after seeing the huge queues at many
polling stations on Sunday night, the scheduled end of the two day vote.

But Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa defied the court and would only allow
a third day of voting in Harare and a nearby township. Many polling stations in
the rest of the country had already been dismantled, he said.

HARARE
- Zimbabwe police detained four US diplomats for five hours on Mondayin
Chinhoyi, a town north of Harare, an embassy spokesman said."We have not
been given a satisfactory explanation for the detention,"spokesman Bruce
Wharton said.

"We regard this as a clear violation of diplomatic norms,"
he said. "We musttake this up with the government."

Wharton said the
diplomats, who were held at Chinoyi police station, hadbeen released and
were on their way back to Harare.

The four were all accredited to the US
embassy in Harare and two of themalso had specific accreditation as
observers to Zimbabwe's ongoingpresidential election, he said.

The
United States slapped personal sanctions on Zimbabwe's President
RobertMugabe in February to protest at the expulsion of European Union
electionobservers and the government's "blatant campaign of violence
intimidationand manipulation of the electoral process".

On Saturday
the US embassy in Harare issued a statement urging thegovernment to correct
widespread polling delays in the capital, warning of"a massive
disenfranchisement of urban voters".

The High Court on Sunday ordered
there should be an extra day of voting inthe capital and the satellite city
of Chitungwiza.

The political atmosphere in Kadoma, 130km outside Gweru,
was very tense onThursday morning as rowdy Zanu-PF youths ordered all shops,
beerhalls, banksand flea markets to close down until after President Robert
Mugabe had heldhis campaign rally late that afternoon.

As early as
0800 local time the 20,000 capacity stadium filled up with partyloyalists,
the majority of whom had been bussed from the surrounding
ruralareas.

Mr Mugabe attacked the residents of Kadoma for voting the
MDC in the 2000parliamentary election and described them as "beyond
redemption".

Thousands of rural passengers were left stranded in the city
as allgovernment-owned buses were commandeered to ferry people to and from
therally.

Most of the province has been in relative calm in the last 24
hoursfollowing weekend clashes which left hundreds injured.

Heavy
police presence in trouble spots like Mberengwa, Gokwe, Kwekwe andMvuma has
helped ease the tension that had been building up over the lastthree
days.

Officials from the two main parties - Zanu-PF and MDC - played a
major rolein bringing about peace by urging their supporters not to engage
in acts ofviolence.

The presence of international and regional
election monitors in almost allthe constituencies has also helped defuse the
tension.

However, many people in Midlands are concerned about the
government'sdecision to allow soldiers, police and prison service officers
to vote aheadof the poll date.

Many suspect that the governing party
could be laying the ground for riggingthe election, especially after it was
alleged that the uniformed forces werebeing asked to vote in the presence of
their superiors.

They were also allegedly required to write down their
full details on theballot papers.

After denying it for the past two
days, the government finally confirmedthat uniformed officials have voted
ahead of the weekend presidential poll.

According to the Registrar
General, Tobaiwa Mudede, the idea was to allowuniformed forces to exercise
their voting right before being posted outsidetheir constituencies to
provide security during the polling days.

Mr Mudede, however, denied that
the officers had been asked to write downtheir personal details on the
ballot papers.

People in Midlands are also concerned over delays in
naming the
pollingstations.

The last few days have seen an upsurge in political violence
in the Midlandsprovince as supporters of the ruling Zanu-PF party clashed
with their mainopponents from the MDC party.

Property worth thousands
of dollars has been destroyed since last Sunday asthe supporters went on an
orgy of violence in Gweru, Mvuma, Lalapansi,Kwekwe and
Redcliff.

Tension in the province has been heightened by preparations for
the arrivalof Robert Mugabe, the ruling party's presidential candidate, for
his lastcampaign rally in Gweru on 4 March.

Youths from both
political parties are accusing each other of pulling downcampaign posters
for their party candidates - Morgan Tsvangirai of the MDCand Robert Mugabe
of Zanu-PF.

On 24 February, 44 MDC trainee polling agents were attacked
and severelyinjured by suspected Zanu-PF youths at Lower Gweru Mission,
while attendinga training course near the business centre.

Police
arrested five suspects, among them two war veteran leaders, inconnection
with the incident.

On 25 February, Zanu-PF mobs besieged a
privately-owned school at CentralEstates in Mvuma and severely beat up seven
teachers whom they accused ofsupporting the MDC party.

The school,
which was originally built by British business tycoon Nick VanHoogstraten to
cater for his farm labourers' children, was subsequentlyclosed down after
the teachers had fled fearing for their lives.

Another group of suspected
Zanu-PF supporters stoned three shops atLalapansi and Mutora business
centres in Shurugwi, after accusing the shopowners of supporting the
opposition party.

Four houses belonging to Zanu-PF officials were
allegedly set ablaze bysuspected MDC supporters in Redcliff over the last
weekend. This wasapparently in retaliation to the burning of eight houses of
MDC officials bysuspected Zanu-PF youths the previous week.

Zanu PF
youths based at the Zimbabwe Military Academy in Gweru went on arampage
attacking residents in the suburbs, accusing them of pulling downtheir party
candidate's campaign
posters.

Thousands
of villagers in the Midlands province are on the verge ofstarvation as their
food stocks have long dried up, while governmentofficials have shifted their
focus towards the presidential electioncampaign.

Although both
Zanu-PF and MDC presidential candidates, Robert Mugabe andMorgan Tsvangirai,
have used campaign rallies to pledge drought relief,villagers cannot wait
until after the election.

Tsvangirai promises to distribute food as
soon as possible if he wins

Mr Mugabe said his government would ensure
that no-one starved to deathwhile Mr Tsvangirai said his government would
distribute food soon afterbeing voted into power next month.

About
700,000 villagers had registered for food aid three months ago, butthe
figure is likely to rise sharply because most crops this year have
beenrendered a write-off due to the scorching sun.

The government
recently passed legislation barring political parties andnon-governmental
organisations from distributing maize-meal in theirindividual
capacities.

The state-owned Grain Marketing Board, the country's sole
buyer anddistributor of maize, now relies on maize imports from South Africa
afterits stocks were exhausted late last year.

Maize-meal is the main
staple food in Zimbabwe.

The most affected areas are Gokwe, Mberengwa,
Zvishavane, Chiwundura andKwekwe where some families have reportedly gone
for days on end withoutfood.

Some families have resorted to eating
wild fruits and berries.

In urban centres, long and winding queues for
scarce maize-meal have becomethe order of the day as poverty has reached
alarming levels

HARARE, Zimbabwe— Zimbabwe's opposition
protested that President RobertMugabe had locked its voters out of polling
stations Monday and lodged alegal bid to extend the country's election into
an unprecedented fourth day.

The opposition Movement for Democratic
Change went to Zimbabwe's High Courtwith a new petition after Mugabe defied
an earlier order and delayed forfive hours the opening of polling stations
in Harare on Monday's unscheduledthird day of voting.

Mugabe's
government also refused to obey the High Court's order to openpolls outside
the capital.

Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai said Mugabe was trying
to steal theelection and "multitudes of potential voters are being
disenfranchised."

The court was expected to rule later Monday.

The
U.S. Embassy in Harare said four American diplomats, two of themelectoral
observers, had been freed after being held for five hours at apolice
roadblock northwest of Harare.

The embassy described the detentions as a
clear violation of basicdiplomatic conventions and said it would protest to
Mugabe's government. Itwas not immediately known why the Americans were
detained.

The U.S. government has been in the forefront of international
protestsagainst Mugabe and has threatened to tighten sanctions against the
governingelite if the election result is blatantly
rigged.

TSVANGIRAI SAYS LIFE AT RISK

Tsvangirai says Mugabe is
systematically using violence and cheating tocling to power in the
once-prosperous nation, which faces an economic andpolitical collapse that
would contaminate neighboring countries, includingregional giant South
Africa.

Tsvangirai, posing the toughest challenge of Mugabe's
22-year-rule, alsosaid one of his top lieutenants had been arrested in
southern Zimbabwe. Heurged his followers to exercise restraint and seemed to
be preparing themfor a stolen result.

In what at times seemed like
valedictory remarks at a news conference,Tsvangirai suggested his life was
at risk.

"They may want to arrest me and at worst kill me but they will
never destroythe spirit of the people to reclaim their power," he
said.

Thousands of people jammed polling stations in Harare, an
oppositionstronghold in the southern African country, after they reopened at
7 a.m.(12 a.m. EST) Monday. But officials did not allow voting to start
until fivehours later.

Long lines persisted in several Harare
constituencies after the officialclosing time of 7 p.m. (noon EST) Monday
and voting was continuing.

The opposition charges Mugabe sharply reduced
the number of polling stationsin Harare and slowed the voting to a snail's
pace to rob the opposition ofvotes.

"The intention is clearly to
frustrate us. But we will be here until 3 a.m.if necessary," said one angry
man, lining upwith 2,000 others in swelteringheat in
Harare.

Tsvangirai issued a statement to his followers saying he shared
their fearsthat the result would be
rigged.

'PROVOCATION'

But, apparently worried about a violent
opposition reaction, he declared:"Restrain yourselves as you do not allow
their sinister plans to succeed.... Do not succumb to their provocative
traps."

The election campaign was marked by widespread violence in which
independentmonitors say 33 people died, most of them Movement for Democratic
Changesupporters killed by militia from the ruling ZANU-PF
party.

Movement for Democratic Change official Learnmore Jongwe said
details weresketchy on the arrest of party Secretary-General Welshman Ncube
near theBotswana border but suggested it was connected with treason charges
againstNcube, Tsvangirai and another Movement for Democratic Change
official.

They have denied the accusation that they plotted to
assassinate Mugabe.

The opposition and witnesses said police beat
thousands of voters away frompolling stations late Sunday night after the
court order, saying they should come back Monday.

Witnesses said riot police shut down another polling station
about an hourafter the court ruling, scattering around 2,500 people who had
waited mostof the day. Some people waited in line for 20 hours to
vote.

President
Robert Mugabe looks likely to cling to power in Zimbabwe's
taintedpresidential election - extended into a third day by a court
order.

With thousands of people effectively prevented from casting their
votes,opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai has accused Mugabe of trying to
stealvictory, describing it as a "stillborn election."

EU foreign
ministers, meeting in Brussels, described the election as "notfair" as
confusion reigned in the capital Harare amid allegations ofgovernment vote
rigging.

Polling stations opened nearly five hours late while thousands
of peoplewaited to vote and there is still no indication as to when the
first resultswill be announced.

Officials from the opposition
Movement for Democratic Change said Mugabe wastrying to prevent people from
voting in their urban stronghold as part of awidespread plan to steal the
most competitive election in Zimbabwe'shistory.

The MDC successfully
sought a High Court order forcing the government toextend voting countrywide
for a third day after seeing the huge queues atmany polling stations on
Sunday night, the scheduled end of the two-dayvote.

But Justice
Minister Patrick Chinamasa defied the court and would only allowa third day
of voting in Harare and a nearby township.

Many polling stations in the
rest of the country had already beendismantled, he said.

But Harare's
polling stations did not open until noon, after many voters hadgiven up and
gone home or to work.

Harare - The
Zimbabwe government on Monday agreed to an extension of votingin landmark
presidential elections for a third day in Harare and thesatellite city of
Chitungwiza.

But confusion reigned at many polling stations in Harare,
where pollingofficials said they were receiving conflicting
instructions.

"This morning I've been told that I would be put behind
bars if I open thepolling station," an official said in the Mbare suburb on
condition ofanonymity. "The instructions are not to open the polling
station."

The facility opened for five minutes before closing again, to
howls ofprotest from about 100 waiting voters.

The polling official
said he was receiving conflicting instructions fromelection organisers,
officials of the ruling Zimbabwe African NationalUnion-Patriotic Front
(Zanu-PF) and the justice ministry.

"It would be fair to open today to
let these people vote," he said, notingthat only 1 700 of the 3 000 people
registered to vote at his pollingstation had cast their ballots at the
weekend.

The opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) had appealed
for theextension after a weekend of chaotic voting in Harare that saw
queuesthousands of people long because of a massive turnout and a cutback in
thenumber of polling stations.

Half of Harare's voters

By
19:00 on Sunday, when polling stations closed, less than half of
Harare'sregistered voters had voted in the presidential election. About 2.5
millionin a total of 5.6 million registered voters had brought out their
vote.

The election commission announced the figures on Sunday night after
thepolling stations had closed. Registrar-General Tobaiwa Mudede at a
mediabriefing said less than 400 000 in more than 880 000 registered voters
inHarare went to the polls.

Voting outlets were increased for rural
voters, the main support base ofPresident Robert Mugabe, who is struggling
to retain his 22-year grip onpower.

The MDC, whose leader Morgan
Tsvangirai is tipped to win a free and fairelection, accused the government
of creating the logjam in Harare in adeliberate attempt to reduce the vote
in his urban strongholds.

Holiday

Analysts on Sunday night said
the extra voting day would not change thesituation significantly as Monday
is not a holiday and word could thereforeonly be spread with difficulty,
particularly in rural areas.

As polls were to begin opening in Harare,
shorter queues were seen in theworking-class suburbs of Warren Park D and
Mbare.

Voters in the lines said they were concerned that people would be
unawarethat they could still vote on Monday, since state television had said
onSunday in its main evening bulletin that the election was over.

The
High Court order to extend the vote came later on Sunday evening, andthe
justice minister's announcement came at 07:00 on Monday, the same timethe
polls were set to reopen.

A voter in Warren Park who gave his name only
as Martin said people weregoing to work to tell their colleagues to go and
vote, and to tell theiremployers they would be doing so.

Barely half an hour before the polling stations
closed on Sunday nightpandemonium broke out outside the Glen Norah polling
station when two airforce helicopters swept over low, and landed close to
long rows of voters.

Simultaneously vehicles bearing riot police arrived
who immediately startedshouting at people to enter the polling station and
proceed to vote.

Many took flight. "This is nothing more than a ploy to
assault us, theyintend trapping us inside. What is the world doing about
this kind ofintimidation? We intend demonstrating," a crowd of people told
journalistsat the scene.

Justice minister Patrick Chinamasa, MDC
officials and members of theelection commission were in the helicopters
urging polling officials toclose their doors at 19:00.

Observer
missions

Although leaders of South Africa's two main observer missions to
Zimbabwe -the multidisciplinary and parliamentary missions declined to
commentofficially on Sunday, it is believed they exerted pressure on the
Zimbabweangovernment behind the scenes to allow the extra voting days to go
ahead.

Meanwhile reports of increased intimidation and assaults by
"informalmonitors" in rural areas in particular, were streaming
in.

Zimbabwean Election Support Network chairperson Dr Reginald
Matchaba-Hove onSunday night said his organisation decided early in the day
to withdraw allits observers at polling stations around the country as a
result of assaultsand arrests. - Media24/Sapa-AFP

HARARE, March 11 — The government of President Robert Mugabe
ordered pollingstations to close in Zimbabwe's election on Monday despite
continuing queuesof voters in opposition strongholds.

Registrar-General Tobaiwa Mudede told state television: ''We havetold
presiding officers to close polling stations at 7.00 p.m. (1700 GMT),and we
have indicated to them that this is when voting should end. As Ispeak,
voting has ended.'' Riot police ordered hundreds of voters to leave
polling stations inHarare after Mudede's order. Voting in the
election, which pits former trade unionist MorganTsvangirai against
President Robert Mugabe, was extended into an unscheduledthird day because
thousands of opposition supporters had been unable to voteover the
weekend. But polling stations opened five hours late in Harare on
Monday andremained closed in the rest of the country. The
opposition Movement for Democratic Change, alleging that Mugabewas
deliberately disenfranchising its supporters, went to the High Court
onMonday night to request a fourth day of voting.

Harare - The unofficial
market rate of Zimbabwe's dollar has fallen by up to20% in the past two
weeks as jitters mount ahead of presidential pollresults and despite an
influx of hard currency, traders said on Monday.

The presidential
elections were extended to a third day by the high court inHarare on Sunday.
Veteran President Robert Mugabe faces the stiffestchallenge to his 22-year
stranglehold on power from former trader unionistMorgan
Tsvangirai.

The Zimbabwean dollar fetched a retail price ranging between
300.00 to350.00 against the US dollar on the unofficial street market versus
around250.00 to 300.00 two weeks ago and about 200 at the start of the
year,dealers said.

That is about six times weaker than an official
rate of 55.00/57.00 againstthe US unit, in a deal agreed between the central
and commercial banks andbacked by the Treasury.

"Uncertainty has
mounted over the past few weeks over Zimbabwe's future.There has been a
question of whether President Robert Mugabe will go quietlyif he lost an
election," said one private foreign currency shop owner.

"The currency
squeeze is already bad, and the last thing it required wasthese additional
pressures." The informal market - which thrives despite aban by the central
bank and Treasury - is conducted by foreign currencyshops, which post
official rates on their notice boards but deal at pricesthat are radically
different.

A severe shortage of hard currency in the once-prosperous
southern Africancountry means the official rate largely applies to
government imports andlarge corporates as retailers routinely find no
dollars to purchase fromcommercial banks.

No figures for the size of
the illegal market are available, but it is theonly source of currency for
individuals preparing to travel and smallretailers seeking cash for
imports.

Poll jitters meant traders were snapping up all the dollars that
came theirway as they attempted to stockpile in a market where dollars are
too scarcefor such activity, a banker said.

Dealers at the Merchant
Bank of Central Africa said the official rate wassteady at 56.95 against the
US. unit. But there were very little inflows offoreign exchange because many
corporates remained closed for the polls.

"The local market is dry, with
very low trading taking place mainly becausea considerable number of
companies have not opened today (Monday)," one bankdealer told
Reuters.

Foreign media and election observers said they were offered
exchange ratesof between 300 and 350 Zimbabwe dollars per US dollar by the
foreigncurrency shops which are moving to cash in on available supply of
dollarsfrom foreigners.

"We are getting a fantastic rate and it is
all very legal, with receipts,"said one journalist from South Africa.
"Certainly, there is no one of thesmall retailers, such as ourselves, going
to a commercial bank to changecash. Everyone realises just how precious
their dollars are," said anobserver from neighbouring Namibia.

Cape Town - The
state-controlled Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC) wasguilty of bias
and distortion "like never before" in the run-up to thepresidential polls,
according to Zimbabwe's Media Monitoring Project (ZMMP).

The
non-governmental organisation said in a report released at the weekendthat
its preliminary figures showed ZBC television carried 402 electioncampaign
stories in news bulletins monitored between December 1, 2001 andMarch 7,
2002, the penultimate day of the election campaign.

Of these, 339 of them
(84%) favoured the ruling Zanu-PF's candidate,President Robert
Mugabe.

Only 38 (or 9%) covered activities of the opposition Movement for
DemocraticChange (MDC), but "virtually all of them" were used to discredit
the partyand its candidate, Morgan Tsvangirai.

The 24 other reports
gave publicity to the three other candidates contestingthe
election.

Radio - a state monopoly - had following the same pattern, the
project said.

Radio Zimbabwe, ZBC's most popular station, carried a total
of 275campaign-related stories in the news bulletins monitored.

A
total of 237 of them (86%) were promotional stories in favour of
Zanu-PF,while 20 (7.3%) were negative stories about the
MDC.

"However, the most damning statistic to emerge from MMPZ's work was
the factthat out of a total of 14 hours and 25 minutes that ZBC television
newsbulletins devoted to the presidential election campaign, Zanu-PF's
candidatewas granted a total of 13 hours and 34 minutes, or a little more
than 94%.

Half an hour for MDC

"This compares to the national
broadcaster's TV coverage of the MDC and itscandidate, of just 31 minutes
and 30 seconds, a paltry 4%.

"But even this was subverted by ZBC, which
used the time to attack,denigrate and discredit the MDC.

"Never
before in the life of the Media Monitoring Project has ZTV's coveragebeen so
grossly biased."

ZBC television had also so grossly distorted the extent
of the nation-widecampaign of violence that it seemed to be deliberately
suppressing thetruth.

The project said these "extreme levels of
distortion" deprived Zimbabweanvoters of their fundamental rights to freedom
of expression and theopportunity to make informed decisions.

The Daily News published a special Sunday edition to keep its readers
informed about the latest developments in the presidential election, and its
account of the first day of voting was a beacon of journalistic competence in
its own right. It was factual, dispassionate and informative, leading with news
of the MDC's efforts to seek an extension to polling (the only paper to do so),
followed by an overview of the progress and problems of the voting and details
of events at polling centres, mainly around Harare and Chitungwiza.The one
criticism was that the paper could have carried more than very brief summaries
of voting in outlying areas, which was all that its main story offered.By
comparison, The Standard provided a speculative, uninformative lead story under
the heading, 'Mugabe in Trouble' in its report of the big voter turnout and the
delays in processing them in Harare and Chitungwiza. And its front-page story
about Matabeleland was an irrelevant, emotional recitation of the region's
grievances against the government.Its readers are certain to have been
disappointed to have found such superficial coverage of their efforts to
vote.However, its main story did provide an exclusive item of news; that
President Mugabe had become a victim of the confusion over Harare's ward and
constituency voters' rolls and was obliged to abandon his traditional polling
station in Highfield for one in a neighboring ward that had him listed.Not
to be outdone in displaying its journalistic poverty, the government controlled
Sunday Mail provided its readers with a lead story that focused on the alleged
excesses of "white supporters of the MDC"and MDC supporters around the
country attempting to subvert the voting process without providing evidence to
substantiate its claims.In this way it diverted its attention from the main
issue of the delays in processing the high number of voters. But buried below
its racist focus, the story did report two ZANU PF election officials (one, a
certain Joseph Chinotimba) saying they doubted that everybody in Harare would be
able to vote within the two-day voting period.The paper then provided
official reassurance from the chairman of the Election Directorate, Mariyawanda
Nzuwa, that ".everyone who was a registered voter and wished to vote would be
given the opportunity to do so."It reported Nzuwa as saying that an
extension to the voting hours was being considered, but failed to examine
whether these plans represented a looming electoral crisis. Nor did it bother
to link it to the fact that part of the delays could be attributed to the fact
that the election authorities had withdrawn 82 polling stations from Harare and
Chitungwiza, a fact that The Daily News reported as an explanation for the
delays and in the context of the MDC's decision to appeal for an extension to
voting hours.In a separate story, The Sunday Mail reported the
Registrar-General's extension to voting times and the measures that may be taken
to speed up the voting process, such as increasing the number of polling
stations and manpower in Harare and Chitungwiza. But again it didn't ask why
this may be necessary.Notably, The Sunday Mail story confirmed The
Standard's news about Mr Mugabe's difficulties by way of denial. The story
reported Secretary for Information, George Charamba as saying the President had
to move from one polling station in Highfield to another ".due to the ward
boundaries for the council elections." The Sunday Mail decided not to ask the
obvious question: that if Mr Mugabe doesn't know which ward he belongs to, how
do the election authorities expect ordinary members of the public to know -
especially without the benefit of some public information to tell them where
they should vote. Nor did the paper attempt to compare Mr Mugabe's ability to
"station-hop" with the fate of ordinary voters who found themselves missing from
one or other of the voters' rolls after spending 12 hours or more in a queue.
Would they have had the determination to join the queue in the neighbouring
ward? Was this compromising the "free expression" of the people's will?The
Sunday Mail was evidently reluctant to seek answers to these questions. But if
it had, it would have been difficult to avoid concurring with the observations
of The Daily News editorial. The newspaper believed the " . sudden reduction
in the number of polling stations in urban areas . is a deliberate impediment
being placed in the path of voters by the government and the ruling party,
because they do not wish the people to freely exercise their right to elect
leaders".The Sunday Mail preferred to confine its content to its ongoing
efforts to portray the MDC as a puppet of neo-colonialist Western imperialism
and the arrest and detention of "aliens". Other conspiracy stories and alleged
crimes committed by MDC supporters abound to support the paper's crippled
perspective of Zimbabwean life on polling day.Instead of examining the
glaring deficiencies in the electoral process and its murky manipulation, The
Sunday Mail's front-page comment "Thumbs up for electoral process" showered the
electoral authorities with uncritical praise. And its comment inside
interpreted the high voter turnout, as an endorsement ".that people have full
confidence in the electoral system that it will reflect their will".The
Daily News quoted ordinary voices and civic organizations calling ". for an
extension of voting days after thousands of (people) failed to vote yesterday".
The Sunday Mail also quoted two civil groups making similar appeals, but it
failed to access any comment from the MDC.Only the private press reported
that voting material such as supplementary voters' rolls and ballot papers were
unavailable or ran out at some polling stations around the country, and the most
worrying statistic of all; that there were no MDC polling agents in 52 percent
of the rural constituencies by mid-morning on the first day of polling (The
Daily News).It was left to The Standard to report the total emasculation of
the few domestic observers accredited in its story about the Zimbabwe Election
Support Network (ZESN) observers being ordered to ". observe the election from
at least 100 metres from polling stations" contrary to the Electoral Act which
provides for three election observers and two monitors per polling station.
ZESN Chairperson Reginald Matchaba- Hove was quoted as saying ". the withdrawal
of monitors would compromise the credibility of the whole electoral
process".The Sunday Mail quoted observer statements expressing approval of
the voting process without subjecting them to any scrutiny. In contrast, The
Daily News reported that Kaire Mbuende, the head of the Namibian observer
mission had delivered another "election shocker" by announcing ". he was
satisfied with the administrative arrangements for the presidential
election".

DAILY ELECTRONIC REPORT - SATURDAY, MARCH 9TH 2002 ZBC punctuated its
programming with uncritical updates on the voting process in various provinces
across the country. The broadcaster reported that voting was slow in Harare and
Chitungwiza and blamed this on the concurrently-held mayoral and council
elections.Radio 3FM went further to blame the delay in voting on "resounding
voter interest and thorough scrutiny by polling officials".The radio station
down played the electorate's frustration caused by delays in voting when it
stated (1pm) that "rowdy elements caused commotion" in Kuwadzana when they tried
to force their way into the voting hall. The station went on to report that in
Warren Park polling officers had to lock out voters in an effort to control the
crowd.Still, ZBC did not find this reason enough to question the logic
behind the Registrar General's decision to reduce the number of polling stations
in Harare and Chitungwiza.

ZTV's Nhau/Indaba reporter Alson Mfiri stated that 70% of the population
lives in the rural areas while 30% live in urban communities.These are old
statistics for Zimbabwe's total population and not that of registered voters,
and Mfiri used this inaccurate figure to justify the controversial decision to
increase polling stations in the rural areas and cut down on those in urban
centers.ZBC gave no analysis of the implications of the delays in voting in
its reports.

SW Radio Africa offered a different view on the reduction of polling
stations in the urban areas. The station quoted human rights lawyer Tawanda
Hondora stating that the reduction was a ploy to disenfranchise urban voters who
are mainly MDC supporters.

According to the private press and international media reports,
3.4million registered voters live in Zimbabwe's urban communities, while
2.2million voters live in the rural areas. In view of this, simple logic would
have dictated that the RG maintains if not increase polling stations in urban
areas. As is becoming the norm with government officials, the RG Tobaiwa Mudede
was quoted on Radio Zimbabwe stating that the foreign media had misrepresented
facts and that 80% of registered voters were to be found in the rural areas.
Mudede was not asked to give a clear breakdown of the 5.6 million figure, a
total his office announced as the number of registered voters.

ZTV's bias against the opposition was evident in its 8pm coverage of three
contesting candidates. While covering Mr. Mugabe's voting, the broadcaster
quoted him saying that those who have pre-judged the election were supporters of
the opposition and accused Britain of supporting the opposition. Mugabe was
given a live sound bite.In its coverage of Tsvangirai's visit to a polling
station in Chitungwiza, reporter Judith Makwanya made it clear where her
sentiments belonged. She said: ".There was a stir caused by screaming and
whistling when the MDC candidate with a train of foreign journalists arrived at
the station. In a development that left many people wondering, Mr. Tsvangirai
asked one of the polling officials the name of his mayoral candidate. After his
exit from the station, hardly five metres away from where the people were
voting, members of Tsvangirai's party were seen waving party symbol and uttering
some words. He told journalists that there was need to extend the polling days
to allow people to vote".

In a desperate attempt to say that Tsvangirai and the MDC had broken the
law, she added: "Election officials at the station said it was unlawful for a
candidate to make comments at the polling station. He added that the displaying
of party symbols and attire is also prohibited under the country's electoral
laws."Interestingly, ZBC-TV interviewed Mugabe at the polling station in
which he voted and ZBC seemed not to have been aware that it was breaking the
law by interviewing a candidate at the polling station.Mr. Maya was not
given a live sound-bite.

Radio Zimbabwe exposed the broadcaster's tendency to follow ZANU PF
officials and present their activities as news. The station reported Herbert
Murerwa voting in Goromonzi, Elliot Manyika in Mashonaland Central, Shuvai
Mahofa and Simon Muzenda in Gutu, as different news items in its 8pm
bulletin.SW Radio Africa highlighted irregularities during the voting
process. Its correspondent reported that at one polling station 20km outside
Harare there were two queues, one for voting and the other for registration.
The polling station was not named. In the same report the station reported that
at another polling station MDC polling agents had witnessed a headman secretly
giving extra ballot papers to people in the queue. SW Radio Africa also stated
that at another polling station ZANU PF youths had established a base at a
100-metre mark and were demanding that people consult them before they voted.
No comment was sought from the ESC or relevant authorities.By contrast ZBC
presented the voting process as having been largely smooth outside Harare and
Chitungwiza.The station also reported on the harassment of MDC polling
agents and problems the party was having in deploying its polling
agents.However, there was no analysis of the underlying implications of the
absence of opposition agents at polling stations.No comments were sought
from the election authorities.ENDS The MEDIA UPDATE is produced and
circulated by the Media Monitoring Project Zimbabwe, (MMPZ). Send all queries
and comments to the Project Coordinator, 15 Duthie Avenue, Alexandra Park,
Harare, Tel/fax: 263 4 703702, E-mail:monitors@mweb.co.zw Previous copies of
MMPZ reports can be accessed at http://www.icon.co.zw/mmpz Please feel
free to circulate this message!

Last month, the EU was angered by Zimbabwe's refusal to let its observers
freely monitor the elections and imposed economic and diplomatic sanctions
against President Robert Mugabe's government.

After being chased from polling stations on Sunday night, thousands of voters
have returned after Zimbabwe's High Court ordered the government to extend
voting countrywide for a third day.

In Harare, Zimbabwean Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa said the government
would comply with the court-ordered third day of polling, but only in Harare and
a nearby township, both opposition strongholds. Elsewhere, he said, polling
stations had already been dismantled.

The EU foreign ministers did not immediately announce any further steps
against Zimbabwe.

Last month, the EU said that Mugabe's government had prevented the deployment
of an EU election observation mission and again expressed concern at political
violence, human rights violations and restrictions on the media that cast a pall
over the prospect of free and fair elections.

The EU cut off 128 million euros (£78 million) in development aid for the
2002-2007 period, banned all travel to the EU for Mugabe and 20 of his Cabinet
ministers and froze their assets in Europe.